Transcription

1 Essays on my artworks by Benjamin Riado (text in english and french) Lasse Jalonen (text in finnish) Marine Pillaudin (text in french, english and finnish)

2 Text by Benjamin Riado Doctor in aesthetic and art sciences from the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne English translation by Alicia García Adames Christelle Mas, early works The main feature of Christelle Mas s art is her fascination, even passion, for food. With amazing attention and interest, she observes its texture, measures its weight and studies its transparency. It can soon be understood that behind this aesthetic pleasure there is mistrust, worry, even paranoia. What if our relationship with food was the proof that we are inferior to it? What if hunger was the symptom of a chronic illness characterised by the need of eating? Would it be the proof of vegetables and animals hegemony over human beings? Could an egg not become the hen that it is supposed to be and turn into a toxic violet liquid, between vegetable and animal, as the artist shows in her series Portées? Christelle Mas has a powerful and accurate imagination. She does not panic, even if the consumption society that she shows in her work makes her think that the huge amounts of food in the supermarkets seem to be an aliens plot to dominate the world. She does not succumb to the kitsch American idea of alien invasion mocked in Tim Burton s film Mars Attacks! She has her own opinion about it. If there is an alien figure, it is side-tracked. It also represents a feeling of uneasiness towards otherness (in French both words share the same origin, as they come from the Latin root alter, the other). As this creature is not real enough for having a specific shape, it takes the appearance of a familiar object turned unfamiliar. In fact, Burton s creatures are a perfect example of the little green men cliché, with an appearance between a brain without skull and a cauliflower. The most ordinary things can become the most worrying ones. Giving in to an artistic delirium embodied in a paranoiac conviction of the worst, though sustained by a rationality that she never lets go, this young artist shows the danger that threatens us in her colourful images. Danger is everywhere, but it is even more present for our own body, as that is where the ritual of feeding, the act of consuming food as if it was a medicine, takes place. It is also where the mysterious and irreversible «food shift» happens. Christelle Mas, who is interested in the river-like dynamics of digestion that were shown in the installation Cloaca (by Wim Delvoye), imagines its reflux as a revolt. She says: what we eat dispossesses us of ourselves to completely become the self. Therefore stoling it. But the self is just a ghost in the shell.

3 Although it is intangible, it governs our movements and somehow it is subjected to the brain. Being intrigued by the threat of food, Christelle Mas work always has a somatic dimension. Biohazard In the video Ingurgigation-Dégurgitation, the reversal of the image makes us think that regurgitation uses the artificial sensation of gravity as a supplementary force for acting inside of the body. This work could never be associated to the regret of eating that people who suffer from anorexia feel: it questions what happens to food and how it transforms inside the body, this change being inevitable. In another work, Déjections réversibles, which has the same documentary basis, the artist introduces a graphic interpretation of this swallowing/regurgitation, which puts an end to this duality with a meaningful triangular composition. As a matter of fact, this composition resembles the sign for radioactive hazard, and we can easily imagine the damage that radioactivity could cause to the pale Siamese faces at the centre of the image. Radioactive radiation, which is deadly for human beings, is hereby interpreted in a plastic echo of the trefoil. As such, this work constitutes a kind of parable as well. However, this hazard sign also constitutes the symbol of the nuclear threat which made the Americans cower in fear in the sixties. Faced with the threat of a nuclear attack because of the Cuban missile crisis, the government of the United States and a large number of ordinary citizens built fallout shelters, where they stocked tonnes and tonnes of food. These shelters were placarded with the Civil Defense Fallout Shelter sign. In 1962, the American government had this symbol painted on 400,000 aluminium plates. Radiation hazard, confinement and uncertainty are related to this image, which is used by the artist in a casual way. We can see that Christelle Mas s art remains on the fringes of fiction. She does not see danger as an entertaining fear with a suspense effect, but as something real. Her exaggeration of danger is sometimes playful or naive, but never escapist. It is no Orphic trip through the looking glass. The artist s commitment to reality makes her interested in the tangible, yet ambiguous world of applied science. In her first works, Within the microscope, which really show her attraction to painting, we can already see some elements from medical imagery. The colourful ink trapped in glue points to the early research on chemical reactions, which, photographed carelessly, incidentally gives the impression of an out-of-focus microscope. Similarly, her experiments on eggs in her works Document : specimen can be considered

4 analogue to experiments on cells. This research was born from her collaboration with a chemist. It is also by means of science that she approaches the mysteries related to transformation, celebrated in the past by Roman Catholic theology in the Eucharist (transubstantiation). Other phenomena involving transformation, for example oxidation, can be observed everyday. In the invisible air that we breathe, a bacterium exists which is responsible for the transformation of wine into vinegar (Acetobacter). This phenomenon, both familiar and surprising, has been addressed by the artist in her vinegar and egg mixtures. These works are the result of combining plastic art and chemistry, but they also evoke in a certainly remote way - the miracle of Cana, where a thaumaturge Christ transformed water into wine, whereas much later he would transform table wine into his own blood. The inner eye Our perception of what is mysterious, or more usually to what is hidden, relies on the fact that it is impossible for us to see what happens. Christelle Mas uses this blind spot and claims that digestion is a secret or hidden process. If food can prevent us from seeing what it does inside our body when we eat it, like Pinocchio hiding inside the whale s belly, what could stop it from concealing things while it is intact, a fortiori while it is alive? It is this question that the video Huitres cannibals answers in an imaginative way, as the image-by-image animation shows the behaviour of oysters. The table, where these invertebrate animals are, metonymically stages what may happen in the stomach of people who sit down at the table: something barbaric, something disgusting hidden by the decorum of gastronomy, which has been removed here. Maliciously attributing hostile intentions to food, Christelle Mas tries to see through it, like in her more playful series Aliments-dangers. She radiographs some fruits and vegetables in it, revealing the danger that we incur if we let them enter our living space. Each of them appears to be sly and aggressive: the pepper hides a knife; the pineapple, a revolver bullet and the cauliflower, a gun. The radiograph shows that food has a dimension that is normally completely unknown. This is an aspect that the human eye can only perceive with the help of technology. In the installation that shows this threat, the radiographs are exhibited as if they were going to be viewed and interpreted by a doctor: on light-boxes mounted on the wall at a certain height. Not far away, the subjects have been arranged casually on a table, as for a stilllife painter. We can find some kind of discrepancy between the surface of the fruits and vegetables exhibited and their radiographs, as the latter show what is inside of them as if they

5 had been cut in half, while this does not seem to have happened if we look at the subjects on the table. Their secret has been revealed, their plot has been averted. This way, Christelle Mas s art can be seen as a reflection of the body. By means of an anthropocentrism of food and its manipulation in the lab, she tries to create a plastic dialectic between the inside and the outside of the body, something that has become possible thanks to the advances of the 20 th century. Feeding and transubstantiation, which were compared at first, are both rejected in the search for visuals at all costs. Christelle Mas s search for scientists to collaborate with her has been successful, which now gives her the opportunity to go beyond the possibilities of the naive naked eye of our ancestors and help us discover things that they could never perceive.

10 Metamorphosis, disgust and violence according to Christelle Mas Marine Pillaudin Translation: Claire Grant Metamorphosis, as a change of form, is a transformation related to humans, animals and plants. In the photograph it appears in one stroke. It moves closely, making visible what previously was not. It moves from the foreground to the background which is underlying in the picture and just waiting to emerge violently. How does it manifest itself in art? What changes does it produce in the creative process? How should one understand what goes before and what comes after the work is finished? According to Christelle Mas, metamorphosis appears in "violence" and "disgust". It reminds us of the Metamorphoses of Ovides; the drawings, photographs and installations of the artist demonstrate the slow deterioration of the human body and what it consumes. As the artist's preferred material, food undergoes violent, underlying suffering as well as subjecting this same suffering to the body. Hidden and concealed to the novice consumer, they are exposed in the work simultaneously arousing disgust and attraction to the viewer. Through the study of Poire toxique (Toxic Pear, 2012), Carotte radioactive (Radioactive Carrot, 2012) and Fraise bactériologique (Bacteriological Strawberry, 2013), we will see how plant to animal metamorphosis operates, and how this follows on from the human body to the human body to mechanics and consequently into drawing and photography. We will continue questioning the notion of disgust attached to the attraction and pleasure in Portées (Litters, 2008) and the series of Post-Nature photographs (2012). Later we will expand on the question of violence against the body to create the work. Metamorphosis In 2012, Christelle Mas began a series of drawings of an aubergine in the shape of a gun, a radioactive carrot, a toxic pear and a strawberry with the potential to conduct biological attacks. Her drawings, ranging from 50 x 70 cm to 100 x 70 cm, are on poster paper in neon colour. The artist begins by lightly drawing the outline. Then the colour is added, and then fragments of small mechanical objects such as pieces of electrical wire. Christelle Mas says she loves working with fluorescent colours because they allow her to perceive optical changes and provoke hallucinatory impressions. Indeed, as and when the image develops, the eye does not adjust itself well to colour.. They seem to move it, change it, never depicting the same colour as that observed at the start. Each pigment of colour which is placed on the fluorescent sheet mutates into another. This change is important for the artist. It is both changed and altered by the mere touch of the colour on the paper. This is precisely how the metamorphosis takes place. To understand what precedes this, we must first observe how the artist works. In Poire toxique (Toxic Pear, 2012)

11 there is an outline of a neon green pear which seems to be full of bones and skulls of dead bodies. To create this, Christelle Mas looked for drawings and models of the human body in which she could insert shapes that could appear human. This anatomical research on bones and rib cages led to research of scientific and medical literature and how this could be transformed into fictional images. The pear is similar to a grinding pear, which pulls apart, dismantles and disarticulates skeletons. It becomes a cannibal. This change in shape is even more profound in Aubergine pistolet (Aubergine Gun, 2012), Carotte radioactive (Radioactive Carrot, 2012), and Fraise bactériologique (Bacteriological Strawberry, 2013). We observe in detail the various stages of transubstantiation of the body. The plant devours humans, thus transmuting into a quasi-animal ready to incorporate everything in its path. Like a well-oiled system, the food is processed, used and digested. Bones and other human remains are changed by digestive juices from radioactive plants which are not suitable for consumption. The strawberry is a bacterial threat and weaves long filaments, like a spider capturing its prey. To better understand the issues of these passages between plant and animal, and between mechanics and organics, we must return to Christelle Mas' earlier work. In 2007, the artist put several fruits and vegetables in a radiology lab. The challenge was to see through the flesh of chilli pepper, pineapples and cauliflowers. We discover that each piece has a hidden element: a knife, a bullet revolver and a pistol. The scopic image described by radiography pierces the eye. We see it as an intrusion of the privacy of the body. The radiographic image in its reversibility, transparency, respect and depth creates disorder. These intrinsic properties are found, according to Christelle Mas, in photography and drawing. Passing from one to the other to better define the contours of her work; it is above all a change of medium and its transposition from one world to the other which guides the creative process. The metamorphosis affects more than just the fields of plants, animals and humans, but expands by questioning the technological field of medical imaging, aggressive treatment, radioactivity, and corrosion which enters the deepest intimacies of the body. Between attraction and fascination, modern techniques and revulsion face up to the adverse effects they have on certain bodies. This is the central question of the object arousing disgust in connection with the notion of pleasure which is imposed now. Disgust Christelle Mas says she loves horror films. She says, "They give me the energy to create." She is inspired by the photographic work of Sally Man, such as the series in colour and black and white, Body Farm ( ). Here we observe the remains of an abandoned, emaciated human body. The more gory images expose the viewer to the inside of rotting corpses. The bodies of dismembered children bathed in a surreal and sublime golden light. This aesthetic causes both attraction, from the enjoyment of the gently coloured lights or the elegance of the black and white textures, and disgust from the scene itself. Also fascinated by the film director David Cronenberg, Christelle Mas draws these images from "pure imagination." Kant explains that in the object of disgust, "the artistic representation of the object is no longer in our distinct sense of the nature of the object and it is impossible to deem it beautiful."

12 Here we notice the sublime concept. This blurring of boundaries between what belongs to pleasure or sexual desire, and that which rejects it simultaneously in a violent repulsive motion, leads us to try to understand how disgust is not necessarily linked to the ugliness of a scene but rather its remote, sublime setting. In Portées (Litters, 2008), the colour is what attracts us initially to the object. It is a series of eggs of varying sizes placed on a floor covered with small pile of earth scattered around. To understand the work, the viewer sees each mound and sees past the eggs due to the neon colours which attract the eye. There is no question of ugliness or beauty, but rather a playful feeling linked to the pleasure in contemplating these mysterious objects. To create them, Christelle Mas worked with a chemist in order to transform the texture and colour of the food. The emotion of pleasure stops suddenly giving way to disgust. Transformed by chemistry, the egg in this case is not an edible object, but rather a potential danger for any man who wishes to consume it. The hidden violence emerges via the fluorescent products used by the artist. These eggs growing in the black earth appear to be spreading death violently, which is visible at first glance. Pink, blue, yellow, green, red, purple; they shine and make us feel like we are surrounded by mirrors, evoking the myth of Narcissus as told by Ovide. This blurs our judgement. We are caught between reason and imagination. Are they real? Are they what we become? Will they end up killing us? The feeling of disgust caused by this vision breaks the harmonious relationship between imagination and understanding. Therefore, as Agnes Lontrade pointed out, "disgust is not formed, it is a violent rejection, a visceral reaction to an object which sparks heavy feeling and which leaves no room for understanding or judgment." We experience this phenomenon and are left scathed from the shock through Portées (Litters, 2008). Violence This violent rejection has remained since Christelle Mas' earlier work. Like a mantra, it shines through in the artist's original works. It not only articulates the feeling of revulsion towards the vision itself, but towards the notion of the body refusing to digest food. The resulting violence is more explicit and prominent in the videos Huîtres cannibals (Cannibal Oysters, 2006) and Ingurgitation dégurgitation (Swallowing Regurgitation, 2005). In the first we see the two oysters devouring one another. The animation gradually reveals phenomena of transformations which show the slow process of digestion. When the video ends, they become the same shapeless sputum. For Georges Bataille, "saying that the universe resembles nothing and it is formless amounts to saying that the universe is something like a spider or spit." Similarly Michel Leiris said sputum is, "by its inconsistency, its undefined contours, its relative inaccuracy of colour, and moisture, the very symbol of the formless, unverifiable, non-hierarchical, stumbling, soft and sticky stone which breaks down, better than any rock, all the steps of those who see human beings as something." Based on these two references, Christelle Mas created an alphabet in oysters: Alphabet en huître (Oyster Alphabet, 2006). Presented in the form of a 150 x 90 cm photograph, the work shows a performance on a kitchen table. At first glance, the picture makes you smile. The letters are beautifully drawn, the presentation and the spacing between them is millimetres. While everything may seem nice, looking closer we hesitate. Their appearance, their near vomit texture is gradually replaced by anxiety. An unpleasant sensation takes hold of us with a subtle, unexpected violence. In the

13 second video, Christelle Mas takes advantage of this short film to make photomontages depicting phases of the ingurgitation and regurgitation of food. The body writhes and struggles in the dark. Ingested food becomes toxic. The violence to the body in this second video helps to better understand the work. Similar to Fairy Tales (1985) by Cindy Sherman, the Post-nature series ( ) portrays the expulsion of earth by decaying aubergines. Once again, the photographic image taken with a telephoto lens is makes the separation between reality and fiction. The artist says: "I prefer to see the world in photos, if I look without the viewfinder of the camera, I am shocked by what I see. The picture becomes reality. It provides a glimpse of the surrealist world as we have been taught by the Surrealists." The shock which comes from reading reality is violent for the artist, but even more so when what seems to be moving in front of the camera begins to freeze. Also, in Expulsion (2013) and Animal (2012), colour, light and shapes mutate. An aubergine is adorned with shades of brown and the external environment becomes golden green in one, while in the other the green becomes blue and the shape of the aubergine is like a fish. This metamorphosis took place gently, slowly and silently, but the title of the work refers to expulsion, from violence which the body rejected. Mid-life, half-artificial, the world ajar by Christelle Mas is also one of fantasy. These aubergines feature mimetic powers which are reminiscent of Disaster ( ) by Cindy Sherman. In the foreground a face on the floor with eyes open. It tends to volatilise. As highlighted by Régis Durand: "there is no more than the mask (# 174), the fingerprint skeleton (# 168), or like a simple reflection of a grin in the spectacle lens, in the middle of a refuse mat (# 175)." Unlike Cindy Sherman, Christelle Mas does not stage the body as such, but more takes advantage of what enters and what comes out. The use of reflection, however, is common to both artists who borrow from the Surrealists. These sometimes gruesome pictures often bring together the grotesque and the wonderful. Realism disappears for the sole benefit of the device and what is the "non-human". Reflection extends in the photographic series New Cottage Life (Nouvelle vie au chalet, 2011), where Christelle Mas takes us into the world of storytelling. These 18 digital photographs, taken in Finnish nature, depict a fantasy figure wearing a pink dress with neon tulle and a black circle. Like distant memories, some blurred images contrast with the sharpness of others. We observe a body whose face is hidden, only the hands appear. They have only three fingers and are neither animal nor human. Seeing this we hesitate. Is it a monster? Are we dreaming? Where does this strange creature come from? Christelle Mas does not give the answer. The photograph shows the existence of this strange phenomenon, but by no means proves its truth. The surrealist world envisioned by the artist is put into play by a "DIY aesthetic" which sometimes borders on burlesque when our gaze falls on the hands holding an aubergine-gun, or even a chainsaw. Conclusion The work of Christelle Mas makes the hidden transformations experienced by the contemporary body visible. In her multifaceted work, the artist plays with what attracts us, providing pleasure with what frightens and disgusts us. The speed and violence with which the appearance of disgust occurs raises questions about what has come before such changes. Looking into the world of medical imaging and storytelling with the photography series Post- Nature (2013), Christelle Mas shows possible chemical disasters and environmental

14 manipulations. The result is a photographic record which is difficult to think about rationally. Like an excerpt from a fictional world, "these 'monsters' do not arise at the 'wake of reason'; they are there at every moment, hidden by the thin veil of illusion and appearances". With myths and legends, the artist exhibits what moves silently out of sight inside the body. The resulting mystery still amazes us and it cannot be exhausted. It is difficult for the viewer to understand what is reality or illusion. The fluctuating transition from one to another is in itself a metamorphosis which Christelle Mas keeps secret. About the author: Marine Pillaudin is a professor of Visual Arts and has a PhD in Fine Arts from the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, under the leadership of Éliane Chiron. As part of the Centre for Research in Visual Arts (CRAV), she participates in the publication of the Sorbonne's work. Her reflection focuses on the concepts of the transitory and the transitional in creative play based on the analysis of photographic, film and video images. She is the author of several articles included in the multidisciplinary journal Réel-Virtuel : les enjeux du numériques (Real-Virtual: digital challenges).

Types of Dementia Dementia is a loss of skills to think, remember and reason that is severe enough to affect daily activities. It is normal to need more time to remember things as we get older. Other thinking

LA PERSONNE SPÉCIALE These first questions give us some basic information about you. They set the stage and help us to begin to get to know you. 1. Comment tu t appelles? What is your name? Je m appelle

Thyroid Scan A thyroid scan checks your thyroid gland for problems. The thyroid gland is located in your neck. It speeds up or slows down most body functions. You will be asked to swallow a pill that contains

GRAPHIC STANDARDS MANUAL CHARTE GRAPHIQUE This Graphic Standards Manual is aimed at the relays of the Europe Direct information network. They are members of a single family dedicated to the same aim: the

Promotion of bio-methane and its market development through local and regional partnerships A project under the Intelligent Energy Europe programme Contract Number: IEE/10/130 Deliverable Reference: W.P.2.1.3

GCSE Bitesize Controlled Assessment Model 1 (for C/C+ grade) Question 2 Subject: Topic: French Speaking In this document you will find practical help on how to improve your grade. Before you start working

High Blood Sugar High blood sugar means having too much sugar called glucose in the blood. High blood sugar is also called hyperglycemia. The body s cells need blood sugar. A normal blood sugar level is

eid Trends in french egovernment Liberty Alliance Workshop April, 20th 2007 French Ministry of Finance, DGME Agenda What do we have today? What are our plans? What needs to be solved! What do we have today?

Chapter 3, lesson 1 Has Claire switched off the lights? Yes, she has. She has already switched off the lights. Have Clark and Joe made reservation at a hotel? No, they haven t. They haven t made reservation

GCSE Bitesize Controlled Assessment Model 2 (for A/A* grade) Question 4 Subject: Topic: French Speaking In this document you will find practical help on how to improve your grade. Before you start working

XM-EVT Universal Vinyl Siding Trim The Universal Vinyl Siding Trim is designed to provide a finished look on the outside wall of a home. The Vinyl Siding Trim is a universal part that can be used in combination

The Skill of Reading French By the end of this session... ALL of you will be able to recognise words A LOT of you will be able to recognise simple phrases SOME of you will be able to translate a longer

Contents National 4 French Reading; Context: Learning (questions extracted from General past papers) Question Topic Learning in context (Forum: should you do holidays? Solène replies) Learning in context

Sent: 11 May 2011 10:53 Subject: Please find attached a revised amendment letter, extending the contract until 31 st December 2011. I look forward to receiving two signed copies of this letter. Sent: 10

For Supervisor s 1 90087 Level 1 French, 2003 90087 Read and understand written language in French in familiar contexts Credits: Six 2.00 pm Friday 28 November 2003 Check that the National Student Number

Prostate Cancer The prostate is a gland in men that makes a liquid that forms part of semen. Its size is about 2 centimeters by 2 centimeters and is located in the pelvic area. The prostate uses a male

CHAPITRE 1 NOM DATE 1 UNE AMIE ET UN AMI VOCABULAIRE Mots 1 1 - Mélanie Boucher Here is a picture of Mélanie Boucher. Write a story about her. You may want to use some of the following words Paris petite

DURANCE Universe and roots Boutique, concession Counter, Comptoir Shop in shop, Privilège Provence is both a heritage and a source of inspiration for DURANCE. The heritage of an ancient culture dedicated

COMMISSION FOR THE COMPENSATION OF VICTIMS OF SPOLIATION RESULTING FROM THE ANTI-SEMITIC LEGISLATION IN FORCE DURING THE OCCUPATION (Decree 99-778 of September 10, 1999) Case Number : (to remind in all

Single photon source made of single nanodiamonds This project will consist in studying nanodiamonds as single photon sources. The student will study the emission properties of such systems and will show

Free standing bathtub B000 General considerations: PLEASE DO NOT USE THE WHITE PLASTIC PROTECTOR FIXED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DRAIN. IT IS ONLY FOR PROTECTION PURPOSE. We strongly recommend to have access

ONTARIO Court File Number SEAL at (Name of court) Court office address Form 34N: Application to Change or Terminate Openness Order Applicant(s) Full legal name & address for service street & number, municipality,

GCSE Bitesize Controlled Assessment Model 2 (for A/A* grade) Question 3 Subject: Topic: French Writing In this document you will find practical help on how to improve your grade. Before you start working

For Supervisor s 2 90398 Level 2 French, 2003 90398 Read and understand written language in French in less familiar contexts Credits: Six 9.30 am Friday 28 November 2003 Check that the National Student

FOR OFFICIAL USE Mark X059/0 NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 00 TUESDAY, 8 MAY 9.00 AM 0.0 AM FRENCH INTERMEDIATE Reading Fill in these boxes and read what is printed below. Full name of centre Town Forename(s)

Worksheet A: School subjects, opinions and reasons School and free time 1) Write in the French for these school subjects. Use a dictionary to help you if you need it. e) f) g) h) i) j) k) www.teachitlanguages.co.uk

How to Login to Career Page BASF Canada July 2013 To view this instruction manual in French, please scroll down to page 16 1 Job Postings How to Login/Create your Profile/Sign Up for Job Posting Notifications

A l'avenir, chacun aura son quart d'heure de célébrité.. Andy WAHROL trough the In the " trough the mirror " work, the question of the value of a video image as reflection of reality arises and in this